Society decided to make us fat, says Queensland's Health Minister

Society is to blame for making Queenslanders fat, Health Minister Steven Miles says.

Introducing a bill to create a new health promotion agency on Thursday, Mr Miles said it was convenient to blame individuals for their weight.

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles.Credit:AAP

"When we make it about personal choice we let governments off the hook, we let the fast food industry off the hook, we let planners and developers off the hook, we let schools and supermarkets and doctors and employers off the hook," he said.

"While I accept that every one of us has to take some responsibility for our own health, I have not seen any evidence anywhere that the obesity epidemic in Australia is the result of waves of people waking up and deciding one day that they'd prefer to be fat.

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"They don't decide to be fat.

"Our society decides to make them fat."

The latest 2018 Chief Health Officer report found that 2.5 million Queensland adults and 224,000 Queensland children were overweight or obese.

"That's two in three adults, that's one in four children," Mr Miles said.

"And that's because Queenslanders have a terrible diet, with one-third of their daily energy intake coming from unhealthy foods."

Mr Miles said that was not because bad food tasted better, which he said some people might argue, or who might say "it's all about poor discipline".

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"It's not," he said.

Mr Miles said big fast food companies and drinks manufacturers spent hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising, securing the best product placement.

"And making sure our kids see their products and pester us for them relentlessly," he said.

"And the worst tactic of all – making their products as cheaply as possible with the most amount of sugar and fat to keep people coming back."

Mr Miles said obesity disproportionately affected poorer people, with obesity rates 49 per cent higher in socio-economically disadvantaged areas of the state.

Mr Miles introduced a bill to create Health and Wellbeing Queensland, which will be an independent statutory body set up to support Queenslanders to eat better, become more active and create healthier environments.

"The people of Queensland need a champion against the goliath food companies that will use every trick in the book to keep them coming back to their unhealthy food," he said.

"This health promotion body will be a champion for change at the individual and local community level as well as partnering with governments and businesses to advocate for system changes to make communities healthier, especially disadvantaged communities."

The Queensland government has set a target that by 2026 there will be a 10 per cent increase in the proportion of Queenslanders with a healthy body weight.

"The Palaszczuk government is committed to making Queenslanders among the healthiest people in the world," Mr Miles said.

"But we're not going to blame them for the actions of big multinational food and beverage companies that profit from their misery."

However, LNP health spokeswoman Ros Bates said people had to take responsibility for what they put in their own mouths.

"You can make the decision to drive past a fast food outlet and go to the supermarket and buy fruit and vegetables – it's a decision that you make yourself," she said.

Ms Bates said the agency was late as it was promised two years ago.

Australian Medical Association Queensland president Dr Dilip Dhupelia welcomed the new agency, which he said would help battle obesity and chronic diseases caused by being overweight.

The bill was referred to a parliamentary committee for review and was expected to be debated in Parliament in May.